Tuesday, February 23, 2010

We let the socialist Democrats win a 60 seat majority in the Senate. As a result, the Dems were poised to seize control of the private health care system in this country. Then an obscure politician from Massachusetts beat the overwhelming odds and took the Kennedy seat away from the Democrats.

Now we have a pretty good chance of killing ObamaCare. Conservatives should be eternally grateful for what happened in Massachusetts in January ― but some are irate because Scott Brown has bucked his party and sided with Democrats on a lousy package of tax cuts and porky spending.

I really don't understand how anyone can be surprised by this. Scott Brown was elected to serve and represent the people of Massachusetts...not the top conservatives on Twitter.

Don't get me wrong. I'd like to fill the Senate with Jim DeMint and 99 DeMint clones. But let's stay grounded in reality...

As far as I'm concerned, Scott Brown is a real leader. I'm not going to agree with him all the time, but he scored a big win in the People's Republic of Taxachusetts on a pro-waterboarding, pro-Gitmo, anti-ObamaCare, anti-amnesty, pro-gun platform while emphasizing fiscal sanity.

That's leadership.

Anyone who can successfully lead their constituents in a rightward direction will get my support. So far, Scott Brown done quite well in that regard. In fact, I'm quite sure Brown is as good a politician as we’ll ever get from Massachusetts. But we shouldn’t expect the guy to vote like Jim DeMint.

When GOPers from states like SC, AZ and AK vote the way Scott Brown inevitably will, I’m very disappointed. But Scott Brown is voting from “Teddy's Seat.” Let's give him a break.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

In a poll conducted on Wednesday and Thursday, Newsweek found that American adults still oppose ObamaCare by margin of 49% to 40%. No surprise there.

Here's what's interesting:

Through the power of persuasive telemarketing, Newsweek was able to tip the scales in favor of ObamaCare by focusing on relatively popular features of the Democrats' health care legislation.

Here's how they did it...

After asking respondents point blank whether they favor or oppose ObamaCare, Newsweek's pollster provided the respondents with warm and fuzzy descriptions of some of the Democrat's health care proposals (much of the wording ripped straight from the White House website). Their language resonated quite well:

Preventing insurance companies from dropping coverage when people are sick ― 59% approved

Requiring health insurance companies to cover anyone who applies, even if they have a pre-existing medical condition ― 76% approved

Health insurance for all Americans, with government help for those who can’t afford it ― 59% approved

Requiring most businesses to offer health insurance to their employees, with tax incentives for small business owners to do so ― 75% approved

Creating a new insurance marketplace that allows people without health insurance to compare plans and buy insurance at competitive rates ― 81% approved

Despite the Democrats'Newsweek's efforts to provide innocuous descriptions of each ObamaCare proposal, two of the eight proposals marketed to the respondants were decidedly unpopular:

If health coverage is required for everyone, imposing fines on individuals who don’t obtain ― only 28% approved

Imposing a tax on insurers who offer the most expensive health plans, the so-called Cadillac plans, to help pay for health care reform ― only 34% approved

But many of the most intensely controversial features of ObamaCare were left unmentioned. There was no mention of the Cornhusker kickback, the Louisiana purchase, jail time for people who fail to comply with the individual mandate, years of new taxation before benefits kick in, increased political control of medical decisions, or the real possibility of loss of private insurance for millions of Americans.

After describing ObamaCare in terms to which most respondents reacted favorably, Newsweek's interviewers urged the participants to reconsider their opinion of the Democrats' plan:

Now please think about the proposals I just described to you. ALL of these proposals are included in Barack Obama’s health care reform plan. Having heard these details, what is your OVERALL opinion of Obama’s plan – do you favor it or oppose it?

[emphasis not added]

Newsweek's marketing effort was successful. With a net shift of about 80 of the 1,099 respondents, 48% supported the plan after hearing the sales pitch.

Newsweek's conclusion?

In the latest NEWSWEEK Poll, the majority of Americans are opposed to President Obama's health-care reform plan—until they learn the details.

But the Newsweek poll is flawed. The information they provided in their "interview" wasn't education, it was a sales pitch.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Have you been following this? I first heard about the Contract from America from Glenn Reynolds:

Though the name may remind some of Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, this is something very different.

It's a set of ideas developed via an interactive Web site, where voting determines which elements are most important. And it's not a top-down contract consisting of promises made by leaders to the voters -- it's more in the nature of a contract of employment from the voters, which politicians may choose to accept, or look for alternative employment.

This is basically a crowd-sourced party platform, with the smoke-filled rooms and convention logrolling taken out of the picture. More dis-intermediation. I'm guessing that the political class won't like it much, either.

TheContract.org is no longer accepting new proposals, but you can help narrow the list and draft the final version of the Contract from America. Click here to vote on your priorities. You can vote for 10 of the 21 proposals. The final document will be unveiled on Thursday, April 15, 2010

Here are some of my favorite proposals:

Commit To Real Government Transparency: Every bill, in its final form, will be made public seven days before any vote can be taken and all government expenditures authorized by any bill will be easily accessible on the Internet before the money is spent.

Let Us Watch: Broadcast all non-security meetings and votes on C-SPAN and the Internet.

Pass An “all Of The Above” Energy Policy: Authorize the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation, lowering prices and creating competition.

Protect Freedom Of The Press: Prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using funds to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in any form, including requiring “localism” or “diversity” quotas.

No More Bailouts: The federal government should not bail out private companies and should immediately begin divesting itself of its stake in the private companies it owns from recent bailouts.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Much of the anger generated by ObamaCare was a result of the Democrats’ cowardly attempts to sneak it past the voters. The legislation was unnecessarily complex and unnecessarily lengthy. Bad ideas were buried in intentionally mysterious language. Key votes were held at night, on weekends and on Christmas Eve.

Unless Congress is dealing with some national security crisis or natural disaster, is there any excuse for voting at odd hours?

No more attempts to pass bad bills while America sleeps! It’s time to rise up and stop this sort of nonsense.

Here are some suggested reforms for sunlight and simplicity in Congress: